We talked last time about how the medicine of interest rates had had the desired effect - not just on the property market, but on what was a spiralling credit boom and the increasing threat of accelerating  inflation.

No one, not even the most optimistic High Street estate agent can have failed to appreciate the steady pulling back of property prices that higher interest rates are causing.

That's fine, as we've said many times before - a small correction in the short term is a good thing for the market. The last thing anyone wants is a market constantly in danger of overheating.

But, again as we pointed out last time, the interest rates weapon is a clumsy and imprecise one.  It can never be exactly anticipated what affect a rise or fall in rates will have on the various sectors of the economy.

Just as importantly, there is the danger, as in driving a fast car, of over-correction - or, to be more precise, the danger of too early correction.